New tires

[Lonesome Dove]

4 new tires for the wife's car. I was rotating tires for a little road trip and found one badly worn.
I recently put new rear struts on the car and knew I had one cupped tire from the worn out struts. Figured it would kinda fix itself with the new struts and higher air pressure in it.
Well pulled it off and it was wearing pretty good . Pulled the front to rotate and the front had been damaged by something on the road? Well looking deeper it was showing the radial steel. All I could do was PHUK!. New tires and no road trip.

 

[oldag]

Ouch. That hurts.

 

[robertc1024]

I never found a definitive answer about what causes tire cupping. Is it primarily from worn out shocks/struts?

 

[Texasjack]

I never found a definitive answer about what causes tire cupping. Is it primarily from worn out shocks/struts?

Basically, the tire is bouncing up and down without enough resistance from the shock. As it gets "cupped", the bouncing gets worse and causes more wear.

I'm always shocked at how many people NEVER look at their tires unless they have a flat. I was once guilty of that myself, on my ex-wife's car. The tires looked great, but one day I dropped something that rolled under the car and I happened to look at the rear tires. The inside couple of inches on each tire was bare steel belts. Being "old school", it was my first time dealing with a front wheel drive and it never occurred to me that the back wheels could be out of alignment. (When I was young, the only front wheel drive was the old Oldsmobile Toronado, which we'd occasionally see in the gas station where I worked. They were a PITA to work on.)

One place I worked had a safety motto for using the company vehicles: "Circle for Safety". Most of those safety mottos were just irritating, but that one made sense. A quick walk around the vehicle can make sure everything is in good shape and clear of hazards.

 

[Sam7sf]

Yup what he said. If you see cupping it’s time to fix some shit.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

I never found a definitive answer about what causes tire cupping. Is it primarily from worn out shocks/struts?

Yes the tires bounce due to no rebound on the shocks/struts so they are only getting touched on the pavement. Faster you go the faster they bounce. Only the coils or springs are doing the work with no cushioning.

 

[G O B]

Bad dampers let tires bounce like Basketballs. Bad A arm bushings can cause it also.